| Kināna بَنُو كِنَاَنَة | |
|---|---|
| Mudarite Arab tribe | |
 Banner of the Kinana atBattle of Siffin (657) | |
| Nisba | Al-Kinānī الْكِنَانِيّ |
| Location | Areas ofTihama andHejaz aroundMecca (5th century-present) Palestine (7th–12th centuries) |
| Descended from | Kinana ibn Khuzayma ibn Mudrikah ibn Ilyas ibn Mudar |
| Branches | |
| Religion | Islam |
Kinana (Arabic:كِنَاَنَة,romanized: Kināna) is anArab tribe based aroundMecca in theTihama coastal area and theHejaz mountains.[1] TheQuraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophetMuhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout theArab world trace their lineage to the tribe.[2]
The traditional tribal territory of the Kinana extended from the part of theTihama coastline nearMecca northeastward to the borders of the territory of their tribal relatives, theBanu Asad.[1]
In the Arab genealogical tradition, the eponymous ancestor of the tribe was Kinana, a son ofKhuzaymah ibn Mudrikah.[3] The tribe traced its ancestry toIshmael, who married a woman of the YemeniteJurhum tribe and settled in the vicinity of Mecca according to Islamic tradition.[4] The Kinana werepolytheists, with their worship centering on the goddessal-Uzza. Islamic tradition holds that the Kinana and the other descendants of Ishmael gradually dispersed throughout northern Arabia, losing theiroriginal faith and falling intoidolatry.[4]
There were six principle branches of the tribe, namely the Nadr, Malik, Milkan, Amir, Amr and Abd Manat groups. The Nadr were the parent tribe of theQuraysh, the tribe of the Islamic prophetMuhammad which were counted independently of the Kinana. The Abd Manat included the particularly strong subgroup ofBakr ibn Abd Manat, whose main branches were the Mudlij, Du'il, Layth and Damra. TheGhifar subgroup belonged to the Damra or directly stemmed from Abd Manat. Another branch, the Harith ibn Abd Manat, formed the core of the Ahabish group, a collection of small, most likely unrelated, clans.[1]
The ancestor of the Quraysh,Fihr ibn Malik ibn Nadr, emerged as the leader of the Kinana at unknown date in their victory against a branch of theHimyarites ofSouth Arabia. His descendant,Qusayy ibn Kilab, was backed by the Kinana in his capture of the sanctuary town ofMecca, home to theKaaba. Qusayy's position among the tribesmen was further bolstered by the support of the Kinani chief Ya'mar ibn Amr of the Layth group; the Bakr generally opposed Qusayy. TheFijar War was precipitated by the killing of a chief of theBanu Kilab by the Kinani al-Barrad ibn Qays, who was a man of the Damra exiled by his tribe but given protection by the Du'il and maintaining a confederate relationship with the Qurayshite chiefHarb ibn Umayya. The Kilab and theirHawazin tribal kin moved against the Quraysh in retaliation, and the Kinana, including the Bakr, came to the Quraysh's backing. The Bakr remained hostile toward the Quraysh, and tensions were elevated when a chief of the Bakr was killed in revenge for the Kinani killing of a Qurayshite youth; tribal customs did not give youths equal status as chiefs.[1]
Islamic historians did not note the actions of the Kinana as a united tribe in the time of Muhammad, though several of the tribe's offshoots, including the Quraysh, played pivotal roles in the formation and spread of Islam.[2] The Quraysh initially opposed Muhammad and his monotheistic message, but due to previous tensions with the Bakr, were hesitant to move against him and his followers atBadr in 624 without guarantees of safety by the Kinana. The Mudlij group promised not to attack the Quraysh from the rear and they thus moved against Muhammad, who defeated them in that engagement. Later, an attack by the Bakr on Muhammad's allies, the Khuza'a, prompted Muhammad to launch hisconquest of Mecca in 630. In this he received the backing of the Ghifar, Layth and Damra.[1]
Following the conquest of Mecca, there is scant information about the Kinana. An important tribesman of the Du'il,Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali, was counted as an ally of CaliphAli, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad.[1] The Kinana were one of the main components of the Arab tribal garrison ofJund Filastin (military district ofPalestine) following its conquest by the Muslims in the 630s; the other main components were theJudham,Lakhm, Khuza'a,Khath'am andAzd.[5] CaliphUmar (r. 634–644) appointed two men of the Kinana,Alqama ibn Mujazziz and Alqama ibn Hakim as dual governors of Palestine, with the former based inJerusalem and the latter based likely inLydda, around 638/639;[6] the latter remained governor until being replaced byMu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan by CaliphUthman (r. 644–656). The singing girl of theUmayyad caliphYazid II (r. 720–724),Habbaba, mentioned the Kinana's presence in Palestine in verse:
A troop of the Kinana around me
In Palestine, swiftly mounting their steeds.[7]
The Kinana were recorded to have maintained a presence, though weakened, around Mecca in 844/45.[1]
Theemirs and fief-holders of the Kinana in southernPalestine left forFatimid Egypt following the capture of the port town of Ascalon by theCrusaders in 1153. The Fatimid vizierṬalāʾīʿ ibn Ruzzīk resettled the tribesmen inDamietta and its environs, where they became known as the Kinaniyya.
Under theAyyubids, the Kinaniyya were fiscally counted as second-tier troops, paid half of the rate ofKurdish,Turkish, andTurkmen soldiers, but significantly more than other Arab auxiliaries.[8] The Kinani tribesmen fought withQadi al-Fadil, a commander of the Ayyubid sultanSaladin, against the Crusaders at theBattle of Montgisard nearRamla, where Saladin's forces were routed.[9] They were likely utilized due to their familiarity with the area around Ramla in southern Palestine.[9]
In June 1249 the naval forces ofLouis IX, about 700 ships' strong,landed in Damietta as part of theSeventh Crusade. The city's Kinani garrison, known by then for their bravery, fled at the sight of the Crusaders' arrival along with the Egyptian garrison led by Fakhr al-Din.[10] The Ayyubid sultanas-Salih Ayyub consequently executed the commanders of the Kinani deserters.[11][12]